Mount Holyoke College Rooke Theatre

Call Directions Website Contact the university

Mount Holyoke College Rooke Theatre Department of Film Media Theater
Mount Holyoke College
Alice Withington Rooke Theatre

10/01/2026

if you don’t have tickets to Chalk, WHAT are you doing 🙄

Performance Dates and Times:
Friday, October 2nd, 7:30 pm
Saturday, October 3rd, 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 4th, 2:30 pm
Tickets: $10 General Admission | $5
Students
For more information or to reserve tickets, please visit mhc.ludus.com or contact us at
[email protected]

09/30/2026

✨Ooooo you wanna buy tickets so bad ✨

Performance Dates and Times:
Friday, October 2nd, 7:30 pm
Saturday, October 3rd, 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 4th, 2:30 pm
Tickets: $10 General Admission | $5
Students
For more information or to reserve tickets, please visit mhc.ludus.com or contact us at [email protected]

T-minus 2 days until Chalk opens!! Today we meet the wonderful Namuuna Negi, the director of Chalk! Namuuna is a senior ...
09/30/2026

T-minus 2 days until Chalk opens!! Today we meet the wonderful Namuuna Negi, the director of Chalk! Namuuna is a senior double-majoring in FMT and Mathematics.

Namuuna writes, “Before MHC, I had no experience at all with theater: in my first semester, I took Acting 1 on a whim, not expecting to end up with a newfound passion for theater arts, a passion that has steadily grown with every class I have taken and every project I have worked on.

Taking the Directing class helped me realize how much I enjoy working with others to bring a vision to life. I love that I have to think both creatively and critically as a director, and plan ahead while being ready to improvise. I like problem-solving, so I think of every rehearsal as a challenge, and I’m grateful that I get to overcome these hurdles with a cast and crew who also love what they do. Most importantly, I love telling stories that are meaningful to me, having directed “The Waves” by Cayson Miles last year because of its depiction of mental health struggles and suicidal ideation.”

This year, I chose to direct “Chalk” by Walt McGough because it explores the often complicated, yet unconditional love between a mother and her daughter. It is a tender yet tense portrayal of how our mothers might irrevocably hurt us one second, then turn around and sacrifice everything for us, and how we might do the same to them.

I found the apocalyptic setting especially relevant considering how, with growing inequality, global crises, warfare, and environmental destruction, we inch closer and closer to the end of the world. “Chalk” asks us to temporarily overlook the reason for our potential demise, but instead ask ourselves, “Can love survive the end of the world?”

Photos by the fantastic YilanSong • 澜 ☺️

Pertormance Dates and Times:
Friday, October 2nd, 7:30 pm
Saturday, October 3rd, 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 4th, 2:30 pm
Tickets: $10 General Admission | $5
Students
For more information or to reserve tickets, please visit mhc.ludus.com or contact us at
[email protected]

T-minus 3 days until opening night of Chalk!! Make sure to secure your tickets, this a show you won’t want to miss!!Phot...
09/29/2026

T-minus 3 days until opening night of Chalk!! Make sure to secure your tickets, this a show you won’t want to miss!!

Photos by the lovely YilanSong • 澜 ☺️

Pertormance Dates and Times:
Friday, October 2nd, 7:30 pm
Saturday, October 3rd, 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 4th, 2:30 pm
Tickets: $10 General Admission | $5
Students
For more information or to reserve tickets, please visit mhc.ludus.com or contact us at
[email protected]

CONTENT WARNING FOR CHALK:
Please be advised that this production includes:

- Thematic Elements: Adult language, mature situations, and explicit depictions of self-harm.

-Sensory Effects: Moments of sudden, high-pitched, and loud audio, as well as intermittent flashing lights.

Join us October 4, from 3-4:30pm in the Community Center’s Great Room for Game Changing LGBTQ+ Visibility in Films and T...
09/29/2026

Join us October 4, from 3-4:30pm in the Community Center’s Great Room for Game Changing LGBTQ+ Visibility in Films and TV with Tracy Gilchrist FP’04.

In this culture-spanning session, Tracy’s presentation will trace LGBTQ+ representation from erasure and coded subtext to groundbreaking visibility and what comes next.

Students are invited to join Tracy after for trivia at 7:30pm in the Great Room.

Hope to see you all there!

T-minus 4 days until opening night of Chalk!! Today we meet the wonderful cast: Lu Story and Abigail Ding! Abigail Ding ...
09/28/2026

T-minus 4 days until opening night of Chalk!! Today we meet the wonderful cast: Lu Story and Abigail Ding! Abigail Ding (she/her) is sophomore English + FMT major playing Maggie. Her favorite part of Chalk has been getting to learn stage combat and work with this fabulous group of people! Her favorite line from the show is, “You know what I love… Pop Tarts!” Lu Story (They/Them) is a junior FMT and Computer Science major, playing Cora. Lu’s favorite part of the show is getting to really delve into a character, and then being very playful about it. Their favorite line in the show is, “Mumsie. Hey. Hey, yoo-hoo. Mumsie!”

T-minus 5 days till opening night of Chalk 🎉 Today we will be introducing: Ava Kitscher, our wonderful student costume d...
09/27/2026

T-minus 5 days till opening night of Chalk 🎉 Today we will be introducing: Ava Kitscher, our wonderful student costume designer!! Ava is class of ‘28, and a Art History and FMT dual major! Throughout this post we will gain insights to Ava’s thoughts throughout designing the costumes—ready, set, go!

When designing the costumes for these characters, I knew that I wanted them to have a lot of contrast. They’re a mother and daughter orbiting around each other in such different ways, and while they love each other, they can’t communicate that. I wanted to exaggerate the difference between them in their clothing. Especially since they don’t change outfits throughout the play, I wanted the costumes to represent their relationship before the play started. I did this both in the colors I chose and in the physical garments I picked.

Maggie is blue. She has this longing for connection that she refuses to address and a loneliness that seeps into her actions.

A beautiful sketch!!

Her clothing is worn and practical for an apocalypse setting: garments she can move and survive in, though ones that probably lay in the back of her closet in normal life, with sentiments of a youth long past her. They were picked in the moment for their practicality.

The wonderful Abigail Ding, who is playing Maggie, in the costume shop!

Cora, on the other hand, is red: the anger and passion that drive her actions.

She doesn’t have the sturdy workwear that has lasted and will last decades like her mother’s; instead, her outfit is more impractical, cobbled together from what she had in her closet. It’s not made for the situation she had found herself in. While I focused on their contrast, I still wanted them to have a piece of the other in their costumes. Each character has a bit of the other’s color as well as something that can be imagined as a gift from the other.

Andddd the fabulous Lu Story, who plays Cora, being fitted for a wig (woahhhh)!

Their love for each other is important, and I wanted it to be represented in the costumes. Even when they can’t say it, I wanted the audience to be able to pick out small nods to their love for each other.

A little rehearsal sneak peek…come see Chalk for more 😉Performance Dates and Times:Friday, October 2nd, 7:30 pm Saturday...
09/26/2026

A little rehearsal sneak peek…come see Chalk for more 😉

Performance Dates and Times:
Friday, October 2nd, 7:30 pm Saturday, October 3rd, 7:30 pm Sunday, October 4th, 2:30 pm
Tickets: $10 General Admission | $5 Students
For more information or to reserve tickets, please visit mhc.ludus.com or contact us at [email protected]
CONTENT WARNING FOR CHALK:
Please be advised that this production includes:

• Thematic Elements: Adult language, mature situations, and explicit depictions of self-harm and suicide.

• Sensory Effects: Moments of sudden, high-pitched, and loud audio, as well as intermittent flashing lights.

The countdown to “Chalk” is on!! Directed by Namunna Negi ’27, this production brings an eerie sci-fi story of motherhoo...
09/23/2026

The countdown to “Chalk” is on!!

Directed by Namunna Negi ’27, this production brings an eerie sci-fi story of motherhood, survival, responsibility, and possession to Rooke’s stage October 2–4.

Artwork by Juno Forgues-Gilbert ‘28.

Performance Dates and Times:
Friday, October 2nd, 7:30 pm
Saturday, October 3rd, 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 4th, 2:30 pm

Tickets: $10 General Admission | $5 Students

For more information or to reserve tickets, please visit mhc.ludus.com or contact us at [email protected]

Mount Holyoke College Department of Film Media Theater Presents: “Chalk” by Walt McGoughThe Mount Holyoke College Depart...
09/14/2026

Mount Holyoke College Department of Film Media Theater Presents: “Chalk” by Walt McGough

The Mount Holyoke College Department of Film Media Theater opens its 2026-27 season with “Chalk” by Walt McGough, an intense sci-fi fable about survival, motherhood, and the unsettling question of what we owe to the people we love.

Maggie survived the end of the world, but it hasn’t really ended, has it? Stuck in an abandoned building with limited supplies, a broken radio, and a book of spells, she bides her time and waits for the monsters to leave. But when her daughter reappears, Maggie can’t celebrate because something is not quite right. The two women square off with both their lives hanging in the balance, and all that keeps them separate is a razor-thin chalk circle, hastily drawn by Maggie on the floor.

This production is directed by Namuuna Negi ‘27. Set Design by Katherine Simon, Costume Design by Ava Kitscher ‘28, Lighting Design and Sound Design by Amber Tanudjaja.

Performance Dates and Times:
Friday, October 2nd, 7:30 pm
Saturday, October 3rd, 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 4th, 2:30 pm

Tickets: $10 General Admission | $5 Students

For more information or to reserve tickets, please visit mhc.ludus.com or contact us at [email protected]

Address

Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, MA
01075

Telephone

+14135382834

Website

,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Mount Holyoke College Rooke Theatre posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The University

Send a message to Mount Holyoke College Rooke Theatre:

Shortcuts

Share